Monday Motivation: Stay the Course Entrepreneurs

Today’s news of the horrible shooting in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay pulled at my heart strings like it did for most people. As a woman entrepreneur who has to motivate herself every day to be positive and focused to conduct business, it’s hard to concentrate when so many people lost their lives last night. The news reminded me of an experience I had earlier this year and a need to share it with other women entrepreneurs experiencing a “Blue Monday.”

The theory bad things happen in sets of three from deaths in a family to environmental disturbances to significant life events is an idea embedded in our psyches. Earlier this year, I lost three close friendships due to an activist decision to take 110 women to the Women’s March in Washington DC to stand up for Women’s Rights. I started wondering if this bad “luck” would continue through all of 2017. Upon Googling this occurrence, nearly every source claimed the theory of bad things happening in three is simply in one’s head.

On this Monday, I wanted to share with you as a leader of your own company, that although bad things can happen repetitively in business and the world, there are thousands of experienced business owners to prove bad or slow times pass, trusted relationships change and are replaced and a few certainties exist like:

*The first plan you have for your business will be altered naturally by the market, consumers and demand. Be flexible. Be astute. Be aware. Talk to other female business owners and see what has happened in their entrepreneurial journey so far and how they remained flexible and made changes.

*Most of your friends and family will not understand what running a business entails so find like-minded individuals to talk with in your community and make sure to keep developing your list of confidantes because they could depart at some point in time.

*You will make less money than you hoped to make in the first three years. Stay the course. Keep marketing, marketing, and marketing. Develop and make strong business connections.

*There are things outside your control that can affect you, your team and your clients. Expect the unexpected when you plan. Leave room for error and revisions.

All I know after 23 years as a woman entrepreneur is that nothing stays the same in both good ways and bad. The market changes and customers can be fickle. People come in and out of your life so be prepared for those changes. Not every woman who shows up in your business life or as a client will remain a customer but that’s okay. As they depart, others take their place. Focus more on your passion for running your enterprise and helping as many people as you can.